To help Team Pacific Rower crewmate Colin Parker prepare for the Great Pacific Race taking place in June 2014, I have offered to cook for him a diet that complements his training. This will be as much a journey of discovery for me as it is for him; I know as much about nutritional cooking as he does about rowing: naff all.

It’s been a while since I’ve set foot in a kitchen, partly because Parker and I recently relocated from Brixton to New Zealand and it’s taken me some time to adjust to a new kitchen; building up the pantry, figuring out the equipment etc.

The other part is the fact that we share our kitchen with a family of foodies, which comprises two ravenous boys, one of which (12-year-old Cameron) is quite the budding chef. Like turning up to the Harrods sale on the final day, providing an obstacle in the path of two very hungry boys by cooking at peak times is just plain stupid.

For a while, I sort of lost my nerve in the kitchen. But I think I’m now on track to getting it back. Cooking after the family has eaten appears to be the way forward.

The kitchen is then clear for a late-night run that coincides quite neatly with Parker’s return from work (about 10.40pm; he is a sub editor for an Australian national newspaper). Whatever is on the hob is then normally about 15 minutes away from being ready and ripe for sampling.

So this will be a fairly regular blog to tie in with what the guys are writing about that will offer ideas and recipes for those who only eat one meal a day, which starts at 7am and ends at 11pm.

Millie Roberts